Supreme Court Case: Mapp V. United States

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In May of 1957 Ohio law enforcement received information that a suspect in a bombing case might be found in the home of Dollree Mapp. Three officers went to Mapp’s home and asked Mapp for permission to enter. Mapp refused to let them in absent a search warrant. Two officers left the home while one stayed behind. Later that day, the two officers returned with backup and an imitation warrant. Wielding this paper, they broke through the door. Mapp asked to see the officers “warrant” and put it in her dress. There was a struggle and the officers took the paper and handcuffed her. The officers did not find the bombing suspect during their search of Mapp’s home. They did, however, find pornographic books and photographs. Mapp was charged with violating Ohio state law prohibiting “lewd, lascivious, or obscene material.” She was arrested, prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced to one to 7 years in prison. No search warrant was introduced as evidence at her trial. …show more content…
She based her argument on First Amendment grounds, arguing she had a right to possess the explicit material. When the case reached the Supreme Court, they did not address her First Amendment claim but nullified her conviction for another reason. The court said that the evidence used against Mapp should never have been admitted in trial because it was seized without a legitimate warrant which violated her Fourth amendment rights. The Court addressed concerns of Mapp’s 4th Amendment protection against “unreasonable searches and seizures” and the incorporation of the Bill of Rights to state law. It addressed whether the search of Mapp's home was legal and if the evidence seized through that search was admissible in court. As Weeks v. United States, 1914, established the exclusionary rule barring the admission of illegally obtained evidence in federal